Month: March 2015

Ok first off, we got our transfer calls a couple nights ago, on saturday, and it was a bit surprising…. but My call feels so right and so …. ahhhh! I am really excited. So I have been called to Elbasan, and I will be whitewashing the area, as well as training again! oh wait… I also am the sister training leader, meaning I get a car and get to travel all over albania to help out the other sisters! WHATTTTT so many things, and I would say the thing i am most nervous about is the getting a car… because Albanians are the CRAZIEST drivers in the world. Even worse than those from Idaho. I kid you not. 😉

But, THIS WEEK WE HAVE SEEN MIRACLES. Beyond any miracles I have seen before. Yesterday, Bekim (Beko) Gosturani, as in Trazhgim and Ilirajana and Aferditas, brother got baptized! But the miracle is that a week ago today, this baptism wouldn’t have happened… so let me tell this tale shall I ? :

So We have been teaching the Gosturanis for a long time, I taught and helped Aferdita get baptized back in September, and since then we have been teaching her siblings… one of those siblings being Beko. And he in the last 3 weeks has just been soaring! His reading is so solid, and he just has this light in his eyes. And this last week a miracle occurred. so last Sunday… we had a powerful lesson about the priesthood… and at that point we thought, ok baptism is close, but not this week close.. but this thursday I received a call from our zone leaders wanting to talk about our baptismal dates, because we invite everyone first lesson to get baptized. unless the spirit directs otherwise. so we have a ton of people on dates.. a lot of them are super solid, but for crazy reasons couldn’t end up getting baptized this end of the transfer. next transfer yes. So we were really encouraged to pray hard about our daters and then ACT, and be BOLD. So that is what we did. Never have I prayed so hard. Never have I plead with my Father in Heaven so hard for His direction.. To understand His will of what He needed Me, Motra Kollmen to do. Never have I prayed so long. But never have I received such distinct direction and comfort and a desire to be bold before. I was specifically and strongly prompted to ask Beko to be baptized. on the coming Sunday (as in yesterday). Initially I thought this impression was a little crazy… I tried to figure out what else it was God wanted me to do, to say… but He wouldn’t let me stop thinking about it. With impressions like that, it is impossible for me not to heed them. And the Spirit confirmed it to me when we got into our next lesson on Friday with them… Wherein we watched the Videos Per Shkak te Tij, and Ai Jeton… which are Easter videos and initiatives that are super big right now. It brought the Spirit so strong, and we asked the family how they felt about their Savior.. and after an extremely impressive and sincere answer from Beko I invited Him to follow the example of His Savior by being baptized by his brother Trazhgim ( who is on a mission in Durres) that Sunday… He was initially a little shocked.. I would be too! But He thought for a second, and he accepted. After that “Po” left his lips, it’s all been a little bit of a blur, trying to throw everything together… It has been one of the most tiring, but one of the most happy weekends of my entire life.

From this experience of just listening to the spirit, when it directs to be bold, I have learned so much. I know the Lord always knows better. He knows exactly what we need to do and say. And in those moments when we are DESPERATE to know His will, when we humble ourselves before Him and cry out with a desire to know the path to take, He will show it. Sometimes they might seem crazy… but from this weekend my testimony of being bold has been strengthened tenfold. Beko’s beautiful baptism wouldn’t have happened this weekend if it hadn’t been for us heeding the promptings of the Spirit. And I will be eternally grateful for the fact that we heeded the Lords call to action.

I am grateful to be a missionary. There is in all seriousness nothing better I could be doing in the whole entire world. I testify that I know that I knew these people, especially the Gosturani family, in the pre-existence. I feel it with all my soul. They are my family here in albania.. and I am so eternally humbled to have passed so many beautiful months with them. They have the light. All the people that I have met here do. I thank God everyday for being here. Sometimes we think it might be a sacrifice being here, (Like sister Russel said at our mission sisters conf.), but being here and learning so much, it isn’t a sacrifice at all. I feel like I receive far more than I have “sacrificed”. I love these people and I am so grateful to have 6 more months in which I can work my hardest to tell as many brothers and sisters of their loving heavenly father. I know He loves them. Because I have felt love for these people, and it is a massive love that hurts my heart, but I know that is only a fraction of what our Father in Heaven feels for us. I know that Christ lives. I know He is the way.

-Gave a talk at the baptism in which we also showed the He lives video..

– the baptism last night happened to be at the same time as the national Futbol team playing, meaning when we got out of the service the streets were packed with people in albania stuff shouting and being very supportive of the team.// might have been a bit stressful./// its all good, I am alive.

– Foller, as in my first baby here, is also training next transfer, SO I AM GOING TO BE A GRANDMA, and have another KID (trainee) at the same time! WOOHOO! seriously so excited

-Went and climbed a castle today, and on the way we were passing cows, and sheeps, and donkeys… yes we posed on one 🙂 Enjoy that pic

Woah. So we had a wonderful week this week here in Tirana Third ward. I know I say it every time, but this is a place of miracles! We have a lot of amazing investigators getting baptized in the next couple weeks, though unfortunately I wont be here after next week to see them enter the water! But I will continue to pray for them and I have full confidence that Sister Fuller will hold down the fort and help these souls get to the water! Transfers are this weekend, so…. next week I will tell y’all where I am headed. 🙂

This week we had sisters conference and it was amazing. President gave a wonderful thought about self worth and how we need to remember our divine heritage and potential. First he had us read in Moses 1, these versus:

6 And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.

7 And now, behold, this one thing I show unto thee, Moses, my son, for thou art in the world, and now I show it unto thee.

And in these versus he pinpointed on how God addresses Moses as His son. Now making the comparison to His other, and quite important child, Christ, whom God addresses as his son as well. The address of God to Moses, calling him as his son shows the divine heritage of Moses, and in connection our own divine connection to our Heavenly Father. President then goes on to read some of the other versus, where God reveals himself to Moses, in all his glory, and then how after God leaves Moses after a time Satan comes along and tries to tempt Moses to Follow him instead:

12 And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.

: And here we see that when Moses, and in connection, we, receive personal revelation or are strengthened spiritually, Satan tries to come right after and lead us astray. However because of how incredibly powerful the manifestation was that Moses received, this is his reply to that situation:

13 And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?

Ok and for me when I read this in our conference, I got chills up my spine. First off, Moses here is so sassy! And more importantly we like Moses, are sons and daughter of God, and although we may not have received so strong a witness like Moses (who was transfigured, and talked with God face to face), we in our individual lives have come to develop a relationship with our father in heaven and he has revealed things unto us. He has built us up. We are His and He is ours. Therefore in those moments when Satan hits us hard, attempting to lead us away all we must do is remember out divine heritage. We are sons and daughters of the almighty God. We are far above Satan. He is nothing compared to us, and with the help of God, we will always triumph.

I testify that God is with us always. He is always watching out for us. And I know that as we work each day to build our relationship with Him, to know that He is our Father and as we come to understand His glory, our ability to stand up to Satan increases. And Satan is that much less able to stray us from our path. If we know who is behind us, and who stands with us, who we are and where we are going, then nothing can stop us.

Love you dearly!

-Motra Kollmen

Fun things:

-Went out into the country to explore and did some yoga on some mountain cliffs. NBD

– Today I look like I belong in the breakfast club, my hair was in braids and now I look like a 80;s or 90;s hermiony grainger..

-My companion is seriously stepping it up and I am so proud of my little girl! #trainingtimes

We are inviting and talking to more people than ever! And it feels so good. It feels so fulfilling walking up a street, and stopping literally everyone you possibly can! And just inviting everyone to be baptized. Right now we have about 12 solid baptism dates… the majority of which will happen after my time here in third ward. We only have 2 weeks left of the transfer. and I am definitely going to leave (I have been in this area for 9 months… I love it though)… and it makes me sad that I won’t be here in third ward to see all of these extremely prepared souls enter the waters of baptism. Part of me has been dragging a few of them to earlier dates just so I can be there, but through a series of events this week, I have learned that that is not His will.

With a specific investigator that we have, she is just so prepared. And so ready for baptism. however when we brought up the fact that her baptism was this upcoming week, she showed some reservations… not in a bad way, just her wanting a bit more time. And as a missionary, this kind of thing always stresses you out! After some back and forth, it was apparent that she just does need a little bit more time. What was necessary was for me to sit back and think about what was best for her. Not best for Motra Kollmen. So I was humbled this week. There is no doubt in my mind that this woman will get baptized. But the timing will be gods, not mine. All I can do is be the most diligent servant of the Lord that I can be, teach to the best that I possibly can, relying heavily on the Spirit, leave the ball in her court so to speak, and then at that point, it is between her and God. And His Will be done, not mine.

I have a favorite mormon message for this kind of thing actually which I have included below. It always reminds me of how in my own life, especially as a missionary, I seem to be flying and I get cut down a bit, or a lot…. however it is through these cutting downs that we really come to find out our own potential and we refine ourselves. I am grateful for opportunities to be cut down. In the moment, I wont lie, they stink! But, I am positive that they are for our good. And it has been an important reminder for me this week, that I am not perfect. I’ve never thought that, but sometimes you definitely think, ” hey, we are doing so good! Bring on anything Satan!”…. ya, and then the trials and mountains come! But as we work with God, striving always to understand His will, that is when we grow into what God needs and wants us to become. And as we align our will with His, miracles occur. Always.

As far as other things this week….

– So remember when I was on Albanian television for the He is the GIft initiative? Well, now I have been chosen as the sister representative for public relations for our three countries, meaning I got trained by some wonderful Germans to prepare for television interviews and what not. So that was a surprise.

– Today was the best of Pdays. Started with some wonderful shopping for a very cute skirt #sistermissionarylife, and then we went climbing for Elder Penrods birthday, and ordered in some amazing pizza to the climbing gym and we set up a slack line! (ps. the rock climbing gym has been approved by president.) Good times.

This has been quite the week! We had a zone training, and an exchange for a day, some ups and some downs, and so many miracles!

This Zone Training was especially fantastic. Some of the missionaries in our zone have been struggling with finding new investigators. Whether it is the time of year, or something else, potentially a lack of enthusiasm during the hard months here, some missionaries have been having a harder time. So our zone is emphasizing finding in a drastic manner! With minimum finding hours and initiatives in place, I am confident that the souls contacted and found here in Tirana are going to skyrocket. Why? Because of what has been inspired in the missionaries.

With the He is the Gift initiative back in December, we saw an immense jump in new investigators found. But I believe that it wasn’t merely because it was an amazing initiative that was inspired by prophets, but what really counted was what it inspired in the missionaries. Personally, when I saw the He is the Gift video I wanted to run outside and pull in as many people as humanly possible to sit down and watch it. Because when I watched it, I can honestly say that it inspired and uplifted my life. It was life changing. And I wanted that for others. And with this zone training that we had, again the fire to find was rekindled ablaze! Specifically with a letter or a talk that our President had sent out to us that our beloved zone leaders chose to capitalize upon in our training. It is called the Ricciardi letter. And like other talks such as the consecrated missionary, it has inspired my missionary work. And personally, before receiving our training and prior to reading this letter, I talked to and stopped A LOT of people. But since reading this letter…. I stop probably 80+ percent more. I will stop EVERYONE i POSSIBLY CAN. Because I FEAR NO MAN.

Here is just an excerpt from one of my favorite parts, but I highly suggest that you open up the whole letter and read the whole thing which I have included, but here is a piece:

I Fear No Man
Ricciardi had a saying that has stayed with me, and will stay with me throughout my life. He would say to me, “I fear no man!” He spent his whole mission proving that slogan. Every day like clockwork 10 minutes before departure to proselyte, he would look in the bathroom mirror, point to it, and say “I fear no man”. Then he would do it again with a different posture. I personally thought he was trying to make me laugh by doing it. You know… some inspirational thing for the new missionary. I soon learned he actually meant it. He was not kidding.
His door approaches were not only unique, but astounding. He would knock on a door, and when the door was answered he would introduce us as “missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. As he would be giving his introduction he would quickly look into the house to try and find something somewhere that would indicate some commonality that he could address in order to build relationships of trust.
One time, approximately the third or fourth day we had been together, a gentleman answered the door, looking really uptight about the fact that we were disturbing his quiet Saturday afternoon. During the opening dialogue Ricciardi glanced in the door and saw a beautiful painting on the wall. Suddenly, mid introduction, Ricciardi screamed out “oh what a beautiful painting!” pushed the door open (nearly sending the man through the wall) and walked right into the house. I stood on the doorstep in absolute horror, a witness to this unbelievable demonstration of bad manners. Ricciardi walked right into the living room, met the wife and kids, and admiring the television set they were transfixed by, commented “what a beautiful television, may we turn it off?” He hit the off switch. I was still on the porch, quite honestly waiting for the police to be called, or for him to get physically thrown out of the house. To my shock I heard his thick Italian accent call down the hall way “Oh Elder Humphrey, will you join us?” I could not believe it. 45 minutes later we concluded the first discussion with a prayer. I confronted him later that night about the fiasco I had witnessed earlier in the day, he said “Elder, I fear no man, and that includes you. I will do the Lord’s work with or without you. I prefer with, but that is up to you”.
Ricciardi expounded further, and I want you to remember this because it is absolutely true. Ricciardi told me the following:“Elder Humphrey, what is bold today, will not be bold tomorrow”. He meant that what was uncomfortable for me to declare today, over time will become second nature, and not be seen as “rude”, but rather would be seen by others as “conviction”. He further stated that The Lord tells us in Alma 38:12 to be bold, but not overbearing. Ricciardi defined overbearance as “boldness without love”. When people know and feel your love, you can never be too bold!” he would say. I would not have admitted it at the time because I was still too young and frankly immature to know, but it did not take me long to learn that his words that night were absolutely true.

This is just one small section of the Riccardi Letter. But it has hit me hard. not just this piece but all. And now personally for me, I don’t tract much. We street contact because we are exposed to SO MANY MORE PEOPLE THIS WAY, but the principle of boldness remains. If we are tactfully and loving bold, CONSTANTLY inviting others to come to Christ to Change their lives, then we are doing our job. Because we are emissaries of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we MUST open our mouths at all times, and in all things, and in all places. Here is another piece that really struck me, especially in connection with street contacting. Because sometimes, no matter how learned we are… we just don’t feel the desire, because, well, we are human :

The Sources of All Fear
You know, there were days even when I was out 18 months that I would wake up in the morning and not feel like talking to people. You would think a seasoned, veteran missionary 18 months under his belt would have conquered the fear by now. Satan never gives up trying to discourage missionaries from getting out and seeing the people. That is what a mission is all about…seeing the people. The adversary’s greatest tool is fear. The greatest killer of missionaries is fear. It is important that you know as a fact, that fear is not a tool of God or his son Jesus Christ. It is a tool of the devil, and Satan alone. Become self-aware as a missionary. You must be able to self-diagnose that when feelings of fear arise, you are being played by the devil.
I remember about a week after arriving in England Elder Ricciardi took me into the town center of Loughborough to street contact. We would split up (obviously still within eye contact of each other) and stop people in the open air malls downtown. I was absolutely terrified. I at least enjoyed the fact that when knocking doors some people would not answer the door, or not be home. But in the town center, there was no way out. People were everywhere, and I was to stop them.
Two hours went by and I hadn’t stopped anyone. I had given halfhearted attempts, but nothing had come of it and I was becoming depressed and discouraged. Elder Ricciardi noticed this and came over to me. “Let’s take a walk” he said, and we left the town center.
Elder Ricciardi, forgetting we were not in Italy (where it is common for two grown men to hold hands in a show of friendship) grabbed my hand. There we were, walking to the local park holding hands. England is a liberal enough place that no one thought twice about it. When we got to the park we sat on a bench and Ricciardi asked me a question. “Elder, do you know who you are?” I thought this was one of those typical Sunday school questions, so I gave the typical answer, “a child of God.” He laughed and opened his Book of Mormon to 3Nephi 5:13. “Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life”.
After I read the verse, he turned to me and said “you are a disciple of Christ! You have been called to declare his word to his people! Elder, you fear no man!” Something about those words got me pumped up! I literally felt the fear melt away. In fact, I actually decided to say the words myself “I fear no man!” with a fist pump to boot. We marched back into town to continue the street contacting (didn’t need to hold hands on the way back). I stood next to the entrance of a health club and committed myself to stop the next person to walk out. In no time at all, the fear that had paralyzed me came RIGHT BACK. I stood there and let the next five or six people pass by while my battle with Satan resumed.
In the Church we always comment on Laman and Lemuel and their wickedness. We view them as so opposite to Nephi, who is so strong, muscular (at least in the Book of Mormon pictures he is), tan, bold, fearless. What we don’t remember is that even though Laman and Lemuel saw angels, even smitten by angels, it did not take them long to forget the miracles and go right back to their old doubting selves. I actually have some sympathy for them, in the sense that here I was fresh off a powerful spiritual boost from Elder Ricciardi, and for about 10 minutes I was right back in the epicenter of fear. But I recognized it, and convinced myself that I must break this grip even at the risk of saying something stupid. Finally, I stopped a big brawny body builder. I stumbled through my dialogue and sounded like an absolute rookie, and then he responded to my fumbling with a shocking “yes” to the invitation to share a discussion with him. His name was Steve Gligoriavich from Yugoslavia. He accepted the Gospel over the next three weeks. Baptizing him was fun, because his huge frame made a splash that got some people in the first row wet. When the curtains to the font closed, he also did a “no, no” by sitting in the font like a hot tub and asked if he could just hang out for a while to take it all in. I told him “sure…the only thing waiting on the other side of that curtain was a bunch of his friends and Church members, and oh by the way, the gift of the Holy Ghost. He got right out.

The fear may be there, but what makes the difference is overcoming it. Taking the Masters hand, trusting in Him, not yourself, and going out to talk to that person. And this is what I will do EVERYDAY of my mission. I will strive with everything I am and have to be what the Lord would have me be. To boldy testify of Him, and lovingly invite all to come unto His warm and waiting embrace. Because this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the road which will lead us to Life Eternal. And there is nothing better we could possibly preach to our fellow men.

I love the Lord with all my heart. I know he will carry us when we are too weak to go forward, and I know that he cries when we cry. But I also know that when we are joyous, so is He, and that through Him all fears and cares and worries can be wiped away. We are His. And He is ours.

Please read this letter that I attatched. Whether you’re a missionary or not, it will change your life. But only if you want it to change your life.

Love, Motra Kollmen

PS

-Went to Elbasan for stake conference yesterday!

-Rock Climbing today for PDAY good times

-We are contacting kids

– 3 weeks till transfers! reminder: our transfers are 12-13 weeks…

-My trainee is fantastic, and she is getting bolder and bolder and I am so proud of her!

So on this episode of Tirana Third ward with yours truly Motra Kollmen, the rains came down and the floods came up! Quite literally! Two days ago we were sitting cozy in our apartment studying this beautiful language called Albanian, when we got a call from an investigator who was at the church and wanted a lesson and she wanted to know if we could make it to the church, of course! And then right after we hung up with her, a member called and said she was in the area of the church and wanted to know if we needed help with any lessons! Coincidence, I think not! So we threw on our clothes and hustled to the church, and while we were running, it started POURING rain, which then turned into huge hail pieces! Needless to say that when we made it to the church we were absolutely drenched. It was definitely a beautiful missionary moment.

We proceeded on with the lesson, however mid lesson another member comes in and tells us to come out to the windows and look out. And the streets were flooding! (Picture for evidence below). Everyone’s yards, and all the alleyways were just gushing with water! in some parts there was probably a good 4 or 5 feet of water! Funny thing is, that the private yard of the church and where the church was, wasn’t flooded. A little water, but nothing quite as drastic. Now whether the church was being guarded by angels or was merely built on better ground I don’t know. But it made me think a lot about the classic primary song we all know;

1. The wise man built his house upon the rock,

The wise man built his house upon the rock,

The wise man built his house upon the rock,

And the rains came tumbling down.

2. The rains came down, and the floods came up,

The rains came down, and the floods came up,

The rains came down, and the floods came up,

And the house on the rock stood still.

3. The foolish man built his house upon the sand,

The foolish man built his house upon the sand,

The foolish man built his house upon the sand,

And the rains came tumbling down.

4. The rains came down, and the floods came up,

The rains came down, and the floods came up,

The rains came down, and the floods came up,

And the house on the sand washed away.

This quite drastic flash flood, was washing away all kinds of things, a lot of trash, some shoes, toys, a lot of finely potted plants… pieces of houses… And I couldn’t help but think about this in comparison to our spiritual well being. We know what happens to those who build their houses upon the sand (Satan), upon the things of the world, they might have that momentary pleasure but in the long run, once the rains come down, they are left with nothing. But if we build our house upon a firm foundation, the rock (Christ), we will be safe.

“Mortality is a period of testing, a time to prove ourselves worthy to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. In order for us to be tested, we must face challenges and difficulties. These can break us,and the surface of our souls may crack and crumble—that is, if our foundations of faith, our testimonies of truth are not deeply embedded within us.”-President Monson (How Firm a Foundation)

We are going to face rain, winds, hail storms, all kinds of things in our lives! Because this life is a testing time, a time for us to be tried and stretched… but if we will build upon Christ, always looking to Him, we will stay the storms, and we will be stronger because of them.

“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Hel. 5:12).

Not only must we build upon the sure foundation of Jesus Christ, but the prophet Jacob identified Him as the “safe foundation”! This stone, he said, shall be “the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation” (Jacob4:15–16).

I want to testify that I know that Jesus is the Christ, the SON of God. I know He lived and died for us. I know that He loves us. I know this life is hard. Everyday here I meet people who have such difficult lives, some of them have borne things that I cannot physically, emotionally, or mentally comprehend… But I know that if they will embrace the Gospel, and Christ into their lives they will be healed. When we accept the gospel and Savior this doesn’t mean that the trials stop. If anything at that point the adversary tries even harder to throw us off! Because he knows what we are capable of and knows that we have DIVINE potential. But through the Gospel of Jesus Christ we find a strength beyond our own to continue forward to face the storms of life. Of this I am completely sure. I love my Savior with all my heart, and I pray everyday that I will honor His name that I wear on my chest. I pray that I will withstand the storms, and I know that with His help, I can.

Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

I love you all dearly and hope that you will build upon the Rock. And I promise you that as you do, you will find a heavenly strength that you cannot imagine.

Love from Albania, Motra Kollmen 🙂

PS. don’t worry the flooding was only for a bit, and everyone was alright! We did do a lot of cleaning up for service though after. Though my boots are still drying from that experience. Also this is the longest email I will probably ever right.

Fun things:

-I am becoming a pro Albanian traditional dancer with the help of the Gosturanis

-these yellow flowers grow everywhere! they call them Mimoza

– So yesterday was the first day of march, spring! And everyone puts on these string bracelets with a wish in their heart, and then wears it until the 15th then they put it on a tree or flower, and that spring your wish will come true! 🙂